4. Fear of missing the flight

Effective communication for visitors

I was a senior
banker for a long time and am an entrepreneur now. I visit Bengaluru from
Mumbai on work every few months, usually just for a day. I book a cab for a
full day, to take me around around the city for various meetings.

On one such
trip, it was late afternoon and I had one last meeting with Rekha before
heading back to the airport to catch the flight. The Bengaluru airport is 40
kilometers away from the city and there is a fear of getting caught in chaotic traffic
and missing the flight.

I asked the
driver in Hindi and English “How long will it take to get to the airport on
time for the flight check-in at 6:30 pm”. I received very confusing answers and
even after 5 minutes, I was not sure.

I thought it
was a language problem and called Rekha on mobile to talk to the driver in
Kannada. She asked the driver which route he would take and how much time it
would take, but she did not get a clear answer either.

Finally, I had
a quick 10 minute meeting and started early to catch the flight on time. The
driver just could not understand what I was asking, which was compounded by my
not knowing Kannada. When visiting, saving time is of essence to me as I travel
around the city for meetings at various new places.

It was a
language problem in part, but the taxi driver should have known Hindi or
English for an out of town visitor. It was a simple question, “How much time
would it take to get to the airport?”

Communication is
very important because missing flights can be costly and I could have been stranded in a city for hours or
overnight. This interaction affected my peace of mind at that time. I think
Courseloka has recognized a real problem which it is trying to solved by teaching
languages in a simple way.